Living On Less

[naturalfirebrand]

I live with the idea firmly planted in my head "It could always be worse".

The suggestions I have read are all helpful and things I have done. To take it to the next level when my ex-husband walked out and left me with the house and three kids I decided to lower my electric bill. I unplugged the washing machine and dryer and cleaned laundry by hand in the bathtub and hung it to dry in the backyard using the kids monkey bars.

 

[Marlene]

Couple of things. First off whomever posted the recipe for the homemade laundry detergent...thanks. I did it and it worked. I also found a recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent (1 TBSP each of borax and baking soda). Since these two things are pretty much top of my 'OMG, the grocery bill is going to go up this week' this will be a big help.

I had recommended in another post about checking into changing your auto insurance to save money. I'd like to add that if you have a ticket or accident listed on your insurance, find out how long they keep it on your record before it can be taken off. I found out that they won't remove it unless you ask them to. My husband had a claim on our insurance and it expired on Jan. 3rd (Florida says you can only keep ticket/accident on the record for 35 months). On Jan. 4th I call them up and asked them to remove it and recalculate my insurance. I ended up saving $90 this month and next on our policy. It might not be that much when it renews in March...but hey, I'll take whatever savings I can get.

I also recommend (if available) looking into levelized billing for your electric bill. They take your last 12 months of payment, add it up and divide by 12 and that's pretty much your payment each month for the next 12 months. Granted an increase will come up if you run things up on the bill. We lowered our thermostat, turned down the hot water heater (and put a special blanket on it) and our electric bill has dropped tremendously. Even with the levelized billing.

Every little bit helps.

Lisa

 

[onebravegirl]

Candles are pretty...Saves electricity and warms a room pretty quickly.
(Sorry, thats all I've got for now)
O

 

[Grama-Herc]

For those of you who drink coffee, the grounds are good for your plants.

 

[midi]

...and, squirrels don't like coffee grounds! hahahaha!

 

[onebravegirl]

I am a huge fan of broths. Any meat that we eat, the bones get made into stock. I make soups all the time and freeze them. Good for the weeks when $ is really tight or if I hear a friend is sick.
Training my family to eat left overs is another matter...a work in progress.
O

 

[Marlene]

Training my family to eat left overs is another matter

Mine's trained to expect it. LOL I've heard it called 'planned overs' where you plan to make a lot and stretch it between two meals. Like when I make chili I make a big pot and the next day I warm up the leftovers and make a pot of rice and pour the chili over the rice.

And I'm a huge fan over making soup out of the leftover bones, too. Whenever I have a whole chicken or turkey the carcass becomes stock for soup. Freeze it and you have meals that just need to be reheated.

I'm a firm believer in squeezing the coin until the animal/person on it (for our international community) screams! :wink: